Entry #9
Synergistic Walker
Yuki Taniguchi
An augmented reality app for smart glasses, smartphones, etc. that pastes virtual billboards onto building facades. Pedestrians using the app — in return for allowing ads to enter their views — are given coupons and other benefits that can be used in Ginza. By moving ads to the virtual realm, the app may lead to reduced clutter in the real-world environment.
Online voter comments:
Blue boxes show positive comments, Red boxes show negative comments.
The length of the striped bar represents the number of people who shared the opinion.
FOR (A): I like how the idea eliminates unnecessary clutter from the urban environment
FOR (B): I like how ads are only shown to people who have agreed to see them
AGAINST (A): I don't think the idea is novel
AGAINST (B): I fear this will lead to a future where only rich people (with no need for coupons) can see ad-free cities
AGAINST (C): Though often reviled, advertisements are part of the city too; they shouldn't be discounted outright
AGAINST (D): This doesn't seem all that relevant to Sony Park
AGAINST (E): I fail to see how this will attract enough users to cover the likely substantial cost of maitainance
- Metadata:
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• The degree to which advanced technologies (including IT) are used
3 (Low-tech) 1 - 2 - 3 (High-tech) -
• Site-specificness: The degree to which the idea targets a specific locale
1 (Site-agnostic/universal) 1 - 2 - 3 (Site-specific) -
• Degree of commercial potential
3 (Strictly for public good) 1 - 2 - 3 (May profit some parties involved) -
• Time scale of citizen-led changes to cities enabled by the idea
3 (Short-term change) 1 - 2 - 3 (Long-term change) -
• Geographic scale of citizen-led changes to cities enabled by the idea
Not Applicable (Small-scale change) 1 - 2 - 3 (Large-scale change) -
• Hurdles toward participation, from a citizen’s perspective
1 (Anyone can participate) 1 - 2 - 3 (Requires expertise, time, money, etc.)